A common complaint associated with free-swinging toilet seats and lids is that one or both is left in the up or open position after use. During the nighttime, the subsequent user, who may be half-asleep and may disregard turning on the lights, is usually startled by sitting directly on or within the rim of the toilet bowl. Some also suggest that proper bathroom etiquette requires that both the lid and the seat be left down or closed when the commode is not in use so that the inside of the bowl is not readily visible or readily accessible to the curious young child or family dog or cat.
Several solutions to this problem have been developed such as the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,372 which automatically closes the toilet lid after use. There, a simple leaf spring interposed between the toilet seat and its lid ensures that the seat will stay down unless held up by manually lifting it against the reactive force of the spring. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,743,079, a device uses a spring-loaded plunger to automatically close the lid or the lid and the seat unless someone is sitting on the seat, which action temporarily allows the lid to stay open until weight is removed from the seat. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,134,755, a device is disclosed which uses a weighted, pivotally mounted rocker arm to automatically close a toilet lid unless held open. The rocker arm may be temporarily disabled from closing the lid by sitting on the seat. Another device, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,830,361, prevents the toilet lid from being pivoted to a stable, upright position unless the lid is pushed back far enough, against the bias of a spring, to shift the toilet seat forward. When someone sits on the forward-shifted seat, the lid will remain in the upright position. Upon removing the weight from the seat, a spring system pulls the seat and hinge of the lid rearwardly and past a gravitationally stable position allowing it to slam shut. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 452,684 and 2,104,947, devices are shown wherein the toilet lid may be pivoted all the way back to a cocked or loaded position which holds the lid open and wherein the toilet seat is pivoted slightly upwards. Upon sitting on the seat, the respective mechanism is advanced to an intermediate stage. When weight is next removed from the seat, the device is triggered from the intermediate stage to automatically pivot the lid closed with the aid of gravity, the '947 device providing a friction disk member for slowing the descent of the lid.
While these devices seem to solve the problem of closing a toilet lid and/or seat after use, they create a number of new problems. Some of the above-described mechanisms will inherently not allow the toilet seat to be raised. Some, while allowing both the seat and lid to be raised in order to use the facility as a urinal, must be manually held in the upright position during use. And a problem with nearly all of these devices is that the lid is automatically caused to close immediately after weight is removed from the toilet seat. A person, especially one who is disabled or handicapped, could be struck by the falling lid if he or she cannot rise quickly enough from the seat.
What is needed is a device which automatically closes the toilet lid and/or seat safely and economically and without substantially inhibiting the normal operation of the standard free-swinging toilet lid and/or seat.